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Dr Bex Lewis, Blended Learning Fellow, University of Winchester

September 28, 2011 By drbexl Leave a Comment

This is a draft for a (closed) grant application, for a combination of Digital Literacies & Organisational Development!

Dr Bex Lewis has responsibility for embedding digital literacies among academic colleagues at the University of Winchester. She has recently co-led the JISC funded BODGIT project with the ODHE which sought to explore the interface between digital literacy and organizational development. At Winchester, Bex leads the PGCLTHE module on Blended Learning, and has undertaken online skills-focused [1] and accessibility projects [2]. She is on Learning and Teaching, Learning Network (Moodle) and Distance Learning Committees.

Bex has worked as a lecturer in HE for 13 years, experimenting with digital formats, most recently for an innovative Media Studies module specifically built around Web 2.0 tools. Her diverse background as a lecturer in five linked disciplines (History, Media Studies, American Studies, Film Studies, and Design for Digital Media) has helped her to understand the range of responses to technology among colleagues, and to have credibility as an education developer in this exponentially growing field. Her training as a life coach and mentor has equipped her with a set of skills and theoretical tools about change which she brings to promoting digital literacies. Her theory of change stems from an action research model “that for change to be effective it… must be a participative and collaborative process that involves all those concerned.” [3]

In roles beyond the University, Bex is Director of Digital Fingerprint, a social media consultancy that works particularly within the HE and Christian sectors, including digital literacy workshops for the Church of England. She runs The Big Bible Project for the University of Durham, encouraging ‘bigger Bible conversations’, promoting digital literacy amongst Christians, a project extended to a second year because of the value demonstrated. She is an early adopter of social media tools, using them in everyday life since first developing a website for her PhD  [4], giving her an international profile. She has a growing profile as a speaker, including forthcoming European engagements.

Bex has developed a particularly strong Community of Practice through a combination of social media and conference attendance, with connections in both FE and HE. She was on the International Review Board for the Plymouth E-Learning Conference 2011, and presented twice at the Association of Learning Technologists Conference 2011. She is a member of the JISC Learning & Teaching Experts Committee. She has attended a number of JISC workshops, and is a regular super-delegate for its online conferences.

Bex is the Learning with Technology Specialist who will be responsible for the implementation of programme-wide technology enhancements for assessment and feedback on up to 33 programmes as part of the newly funded JISC project, FASTECH.  This will combine her skills as an education technologist with her knowledge and experience of organisational development.

References

[1] SkillsNet: On-line resources, tips and information to boost your academic performance, www.winchester.ac.uk/skillsnet

[2] Jessop, T., Edwards, S. & Lewis, B., ‘Disabled student views on web accessibility’, Capture, Vol. II, (2009) pp50-57

[3] Cheung-Judge, M. & Holbeche, L. Organization Development: A Practitioner’s Guide for OD and HR, London: KoganPage, 2011, p35

[4] ‘Keep Calm and Carry On and other Second World War Posters’, http://ww2poster.co.uk

Filed Under Academic Research, drbexl Tagged With Bex Lewis, drbexl, Funding Bid

Floods? Snow? Swine Flu? Terrorist Threats? “Keep Calm and Carry On”

January 29, 2010 By drbexl 7 Comments

The following abstract has been submitted to the Plymouth E-Learning Conference. The panel has been in development for some while – we’ll see if it makes it!

Floods? Snow? Swine Flu? Terrorist Threats?  “Keep Calm and Carry On”

During the Second World War, the British government sought to use appropriate communications tools to convey policy to the populace, whether via posters, newspapers, radio, or legislation. Resource restrictions meant that there was not always a free choice in which to use.

Sound familiar? It should.

As James Clay indicated in a blog post on January 10th snow, floods and swine flu all have the potential bring our physical campus to a halt, for valid health and safety reasons.  Institutions announce via local radio and the web that they are closed to students and staff. In most institutions such crises effectively bring the entire workforce to a halt. Despite the digital options available, the word ‘closed’ implies that no (formal) activity will take place, and sends the message to staff and students that they do not need to go to work, or even do any work, even if they could.[1]

Culturally, most institutions do not incorporate online or virtual learning into everyday working cultures, at any level: management, staff or students. Those who do not routinely use digital options can’t see that closing the physical institution need not have a significant impact on the business of the institution, if that business can be carried out at home or online. The issue is not to focus upon contingency planning, but to focus on changing the way people work when there isn’t snow and changing the way people think when there is.

Although this debate will centre largely upon Web 2.0 methods, it will take an outcomes-focused approach, rather than a tools focused approach, in line with William Morris’s quote “Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful”. We consider what is necessary, not just in times of crisis, but in implementing everyday e-practice to meet learning and teaching needs.

No tool offers “one size fits all”, so each panellist will focus upon a specific relationship, for example communication between institution/staff, tutor/student, student/student, institution/external, and identify some of the most appropriate tools, and the pedagogical purpose that they serve. Which tool is most appropriate for the outcome required? What does that the approach provide that previous methods haven’t? What drawbacks are acknowledged in the use of each with regards to the outcomes required? What institutional cultural factors will need to be addressed?

PANEL:

The exact panel is to be confirmed, but will include: James Clay (ILT & Learning Resources Manager at Gloucestershire College), Dr Carolin Esser (Lecturer, English, University of Winchester) Dr Bex Lewis (Lecturer History/Media Studies, Blended Learning Fellow, University of Winchester). The panel will be allocated less than 10 minutes each, before strongly encouraged debate from the floor, building upon discussions which will have started beforehand online.

[1] http://elearningstuff.wordpress.com/2010/01/10/snow/

Filed Under Academic Research, Digital Living Tagged With Abstract, Bex Lewis, Carolin Esser, Cultural Change, James Clay, Plymouth E-Learning Conference

Good CoP, Bad Cop? Twitter for Communities of Practice

January 27, 2010 By drbexl 8 Comments

Below is an abstract that has been submitted by Dr Bex Lewis and Dr David Rush for the Fifth International Learning Conference 2010, University of Hertfordshire. We won’t know until 22nd February whether we’ve been accepted or not, but I find even the process of thinking where we’re going fascinating.

“In developing both inter- and intra- communities of practice there is a range of recently developed social media tools that are candidates to be used as the means of facilitating communication. One of these is Twitter, one of the largest social media platforms. Despite an average user age of 25-54, it has a growing number of younger users and, with rising Smartphone ownership, increasing functionality.

Twitter has provided new means of communication with students for purposes such as polling, question setting and passing administrative information.  But as yet these have been peripheral activities in course delivery. Difficulties encountered include not all students wanting to use Twitter or seeing Twitter as an adjunct to their social life, rather than a part of formal education, and an association with a culture of celebrity.

Blended Learning enthusiasts face two related tasks in developing communities of practice.  Internally they must support and encourage academics from across the institution, in many disciplines, requiring multiple approaches to e-learning.  Externally they need to connect with blended learning enthusiasts in other institutions.

One of Twitter’s key capabilities is relationship building, and we have started our use of Twitter concentrating on building external links.  The presentation will report on how this can be done and give ways of estimating the effectiveness of Twitter in the HE context.  Topics to be addressed include building an academic identity, developing a research network, the nature of tweets and use of crowdsourcing.

Results from a later development to introduce Twitter to enhance an existing internal community of practice  will also be discussed.  This experience shows what Twitter has to offer alongside other social media.  It also facilitates the identification of additional capabilities of communication tools such as Twitter that might be added to increase their utility in HE.”

6 Keywords: Twitter, Communities of Practice, Informal Learning, Social Media, Communication, Interdisciplinary

Conference Theme

The importance of developing a community to support learning is a well established idea. The virtual and physical learning spaces we build, as well as the ways in which we engage our students, are increasingly being influenced by our desire to create and support a learning community. The Fifth International Blended Learning Conference aims to explore the notion of community in its variety of forms. You are invited to submit proposals / abstracts relating to community. Suggested themes include:

  • Developing blended learning communities to support and enhance different aspects of the curriculum, e.g. employability, internationalisation, lifelong learning, learning that lasts, research informed teaching, student support and pastoral care, study skills and personal development, the student experience and the student voice
  • Developing a community of blended learning practitioners
  • Extending the blended learning community Within and across disciplinary groups For pre-university entrants With Alumni
  • Theoretical perspectives on blended learning communities
Filed Under Academic Research, Event, Learning Tagged With #iblc10, Bex Lewis, Communities of Practice, Conference Abstract, David Rush, Twitter, University of Winchester